58 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF A FUTURE STATE. 



mo*rt, for a slight iffront, or for some imaginary 

 reflection on their reputation and honour ! 



Were it necessary to bring forward additional 

 proofs that the greater part of mankind have no 

 belief in a future state, or, which amounts near 

 ly to the same thing, that it has no influence 

 whatever on the general tenor of their thoughts 

 and actions the prominent features of their con 

 duct afford abundant evidence of this melancholy 

 truth. Would a man, who firmly believes that 

 he is destined to an everlasting state, pass 

 fifty or sixty years of his life without spending 

 one serious thought about that unknown futu 

 rity into which he is soon to enter, or making 

 the least inquiry respecting its nature and em 

 ployments ? Would he toil from morning to 

 night, with incessant care, to lay up a few fleet 

 ing treasures, and never spend a single hour in 

 considering what preparations are requisite for 

 an endless existence ? Would he spurn at that 

 book which has unveiled the glories and the 

 terrors of eternity, and &quot; brought life and immor 

 tality to light?&quot; Would he sneer at the person 

 who is inquiring the way to a blessed immortality, 

 and count him as an enemy when he wished to 

 direct his attention to the concerns of an unseen 

 world? Can that man be supposed to believe 

 that a crown of glory awaits him in the heavens, 

 whose whole soul is absorbed in the pursuits of 

 ambition, and who tramples on every principle 

 of truth and justice, in order to gain possession 

 of a post of opulence and honour? Can those 

 parents believe that in heaven there is &quot; a trea 

 sure that fadeth not,&quot; while they teach their 

 children to conclude, that the acquisition of a 

 fortune, and the favor of the great, are the grand 

 objects to which they should aspire ? Can that 

 old hoary-headed votary of pleasure consider 

 himself as standing on the verge of an eternal 

 world, who still indulges himself in all the fashion 

 able follies and frivolities of the age, and never 

 casts an eye beyond the precincts of the grave ? 

 Can that hard-hearted worldling, who shuts his 

 ears at the cry of the poor and needy, and who 

 grasps his treasures with eagerness even amidst 

 the agonies of dissolution believe that &quot; a re 

 compense of reward&quot; awaits the benevolent &quot; at 

 the resurrection of the just?&quot; Can that man 

 be impressed with the solemnities of the eternal 

 world, who, the moment after he has committed 

 the remains of a relative to the grave, violates 

 every humane ?.nd friendly feeling, and for the 

 sake of a few paltry pounds or shillings, deprives 

 the widow and the orphan of every earthly en 

 joyment? Can that courtly sycophant, who is 

 continually hunting after places and pensions, 

 fawning upon his superiors, and whose whole 

 &amp;lt;fife is a continued course of treachery, adulation 

 and falsehood believe that &quot;all liars shall have 

 their portion ir the lake that btirneth with fire 

 and brimstone ?&quot; Can that thoughtless de- 

 uauchee believe that future punishment awaits the 



workers of iniquity, who runs from one scene of 

 dissipation to another, who wastes his time in 

 folly and extravagance, and whose life is but one 

 continued crime ? Or can we even suppose 

 that that clergyman, who is unremittingly aspi 

 ring after preferment, who is mercilessly fleecing 

 his flock, yet neglecting their instruction, and 

 engaged in incessant litigations about some pal 

 try tythes, seriously believes, that the treasures 

 of this world are unworthy to be compared with 

 that &quot; exceeding great and eternal weight of glory 

 which is about to be revealed in the life to come ? * 

 Such conduct plainly indicates, whatever pro 

 fessions certain descriptions of these charac 

 ters may make, that the solemn realities of the 

 eternal world have no more practical influence 

 on their minds than if they regarded them as 

 unsubstantial phantoms, or as idle dreams. 



The doctrine of a future state is not a mere 

 speculative proposition, to serve as a subject of 

 metaphysical investigation, or to be admitted 

 merely to complete a system of philosophical or 

 theological belief. It is a truth of the highest 

 practical importance, which ought to be inter 

 woven with the whole train of our thoughts anu 

 actions. Yet how many are there, even of 

 those who bear the Christian name, who are 

 incessantly engaged in boisterous disputes re 

 specting the nature of faith, who have never felt 

 the influence of that faith which is : the confi 

 dent expectation of things hoped for, and the 

 conviction of things which are not seen,&quot; and 

 which realizes to the mind, as if actually present, 

 the glories of the invisible world! If we really 

 believe the doctrine of immortality, it will mani 

 fest itself in our thoughts, affections and pur 

 suits. It will lead us to form a just estimate oj 

 the value of all earthly enjoyments. For, in the 

 light of eternity, all the secular pursuits in which 

 men now engage, appear but as vanity, and all 

 the dazzling objects which fascinate their eyes, 

 as fleeting shadows. A realizing view of an 

 eternal state dissipates the illusion which the 

 eye of sense throws over the pageantry and 

 the splendours of this world, and teaches us 

 that all is transitory and fading, and that our 

 most exquisite earthly enjoyments will ere long 

 be snatched from our embrace. For, not a sin 

 gle mark of our sublunary honours, not a single 

 farthing of our boasted treasures, not a single 

 trace of our splendid possessions, nor a single 

 line of the beauty of our persons, can be carried 

 along with us to the regions beyond the grave. 

 It will stimulate us to set our affections on things 

 above, and to indulge in heavenly contemplations 

 &quot; Where our treasure is, there will our hearts 

 be also.&quot; Rising superior to the delights of 

 sense, and to the narrow boundaries of time, we 

 will expatiate at large in those boundless re 

 gions which eye hath not seen, and contem 

 plate, in the light of reason and of revelation, 

 those scenes of felicity and grandeur, which wiL 



